Schwarzenegger's welfare cuts angers Dems

By JUDY LIN, The Associated Press
| 6:24 p.m.July 8, 2009

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger walks past a chart showing projected savings to the state if his proposed reforms to the state's welfare programs were enacted, as he leaves a Capitol news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, July 8, 2009. Schwarzenegger defended his proposals to reform welfare and other social programs as negotiations over closing California's $26.3 billion deficit.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
— AP

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger walks past a chart showing projected savings to the state if his proposed reforms to the state's welfare programs were enacted, as he leaves a Capitol news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, July 8, 2009. Schwarzenegger defended his proposals to reform welfare and other social programs as negotiations over closing California's $26.3 billion deficit.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
/ AP

SACRAMENTO, Calif. 
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's insistence on cost-cutting measures to weed out what he has described as "waste, fraud and abuse" in California's social service programs has struck a nerve with Democrats, welfare advocates and the frail.

They say the Republican governor is using the poor as a scapegoat for the state's $26.3 billion budget shortfall. They also fear his proposals, if approved by the Legislature, would trigger increased unemployment and homelessness, and force thousands of people from their homes into expensive nursing facilities.

Mike Herald, a lobbyist for the Western Center on Law & Poverty, likened Schwarzenegger to a bully who bosses around his poverty-stricken family.

"The last thing these families need is a powerful figure accusing them of fraud," he said.

At times, advocates' response has been forceful. On Tuesday, wheelchair-bound recipients of in-home supportive services formed a half-circle around the entrance to the governor's Capitol office, blocking access. They were removed when the Capitol closed for the night.

Shortly before the previous fiscal year ended last month, Schwarzenegger inserted a new set of demands into negotiations aimed at closing a state budget deficit now projected at $26.3 billion through mid-2010.

He wants lawmakers to make eligibility and benefit changes to the state's welfare-to-work program and other social programs. He also wants to require in-home supportive service clients and workers to get fingerprinted as a way to reduce fraud.

Schwarzenegger's latest negotiating points reveal not only an ideological divide between Republicans and Democrats but also have upset the speaker of the state Assembly, one of the two key Democratic budget negotiators. On Monday, Speaker Karen Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat, declined to participate in budget talks, which have yet to restart.

Her office and the governor's have been sniping for days. On Tuesday, Bass' spokeswoman issued a news release saying the governor's office criticism of the speaker and the chairwoman of the Assembly's budget committee amounted to "insulting the intelligence of women lawmakers."

Schwarzenegger showed no signs of backing down during a Wednesday news conference, standing by his proposal to drop welfare recipients if they cannot show they are in job training or looking for work.

"We'll give you the bootstrap, but you have to pull yourself up," he said.

Administration officials said California's policies have allowed poor people to stay on welfare longer than the federal five-year cap.

John Wagner, director of the state Department of Social Services, said lax sanctions have led to a high number of welfare recipients in California. He said the state is home to 30 percent of all welfare families nationwide who are receiving federal cash assistance, compared to 3 percent in Texas and 7 percent in New York. California accounts for 12 percent of the nation's total population.

Schwarzenegger said his proposed policy changes would match sanctions already imposed by other states when families fail to meet work requirements.

The governor's office says the proposals would save money by eliminating support services for families not meeting work requirements and reduce the time a family can receive cash assistance to two years, down from the federal maximum of five years.

He also would require those families not meeting work participation rules to see a caseworker every six months.

Schwarzenegger said the Democratic-controlled Legislature has put off such reforms for far too long.

"It's always important to have a safety net ... but not to abuse the safety net," the governor said.

His office says the reforms to social programs are appropriate for the ongoing negotiations over closing the state's deficit because they would save California taxpayers about $1.7 billion a year.

Advocates fear the governor's goal is to dismantle CalWORKs, the state's welfare-to-work program that provides job training, child care and transportation costs to assist parents.

Schwarzenegger's May budget proposal called for eliminating the program, which would have affected some 546,000 families. Without it, advocates say more families will be driven into homelessness.

Frank Mecca, executive director of the County Welfare Directors Association of California, defended CalWORKs, saying it has moved 500,000 people into jobs since 1998. He said the governor's proposal would dramatically cut services for people who need it.

Lindsey Elsheltawy, 28, credited CalWORKS with providing child care and training that eventually helped her land a full-time job as a social worker in Butte County, north of Sacramento.

"CalWORKs isn't just a handout like maybe it was 50 years ago," said the single mother from Chico. "Now it's to get you into the work force as soon as possible."

Schwarzenegger also has proposed deep cuts to the state's in-home support program, which pays workers, often a relative, to cook, clean and bathe 440,000 elderly and disabled people so they can continue living at home.

His May budget proposal sought to limit that service to 60,000 of the most severe cases. Instead of wholesale elimination, he now seeks fingerprinting for recipients and care givers as a way to reduce fraud.

On Monday, the governor stood with district attorneys from throughout California, who cited concerns about fraud in one of the fastest-growing programs in the state.

Carin Kay Martin, 55, a former carpenter who suffers from severe gout, was among the in-home care recipients and care workers who formed the blockade around the entrance to Schwarzenegger's office this week. They were demanding higher taxes to protect services they say are critical.

She said the governor's proposals would take away her caregiver and reduce the state's contribution to her Social Security disability benefits. That would force her out of the two-bedroom apartment she shares with her 88-year-old mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's, she said.

"The governor needs to remember in his heart, he's not in Austria anymore. He's an American. He works for the American people in the state of California. All of the people, not just the rich," Martin said before she was moved by officers for blocking the hallway.

Bass, the Assembly leader, said she sat out the top-level budget this week because of growing frustration with the governor's demands.

"We believe that many of the governor's reforms are worthy of consideration, but what is most important right now is that we close the deficit, that we not continue to lose $25 million a day," Bass said.